Barbara Dickson
25 March 2010 - 25 March 2010
Thursday 25 March, 7.30pm
Barbara Dickson was born in Dunfermline, Scotland. Her singing career started in folk clubs around her native Fife in the sixties, exposing her to a rich combination of traditional and contemporary music.
In the early seventies, she sang at a Liverpool folk club run by a young student teacher called Willy Russell. He showed Barbara the first draft of what would later become the award winning musical, ‘John, Paul, George, Ringo….and Bert’ and asked her to perform the music. The combination of fine writing, a superb cast of young unknowns, (Antony Sher, Bernard Hill, Trevor Eve to name but a few!), and Barbara’s idiosyncratic interpretation of Beatles songs made the show hugely successful.
Also impressed by Barbara’s performance were Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, who invited her to record ‘Another Suitcase in Another Hall’ from the new musical ‘Evita’, which became her second hit in l977. In l982, Willy Russell asked Barbara to star in his new musical ‘Blood Brothers’ in the pivotal role of the mother, Mrs. Johnstone, she rose to the challenge, in the process garnering critical acclaim as well as Actress of the Year in a Musical from the Society of West End Theatres in l984.
Later that year, Tim Rice approached Barbara to take part in the cast album recording of the musical ‘Chess’, which included the song ‘I know him so Well’, a duet sung with Elaine Paige. This song remained for many weeks at number one in the charts.
2008 saw Barbara celebrating 40 years as a professional musician. As a multi-million selling recording artist with an equally impressive Olivier award-winning acting career, Barbara Dickson has firmly established herself as one of the most versatile performers in the UK.
“Barbara Dickson is a very special talent”
(Sir George Martin)
“I love Barbara Dickson. From the very first time I heard her, her voice just nailed me to the wall! Her voice has that kind of smoothness… she’s just a one-off.”
(Billy Connolly)
“Barbara Dickson has one of those voices – boy can this lady sing! She can glide with glacial beauty, bright and pure, through the high notes. She can slip down to husky warmth, and she can burn with straightahead soul power. When she sang the folk clubs, she could transfix with feeling and intensity. Now she’s moving on again, but that voice is still there.”
(New Musical Express)
“[Barbara’s] voice, as true as ever, has a thrilling quality in the upper register… The chance to hear her sing a personal choice of favourite good songs should not be missed.”
(The Times)
Tickets £21.50 - £27.50
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